CDs to make you laugh, cry

CYNTHIA RAMSAY

The only link between the CDs reviewed in this roundup – besides their Jewish connection – is that they all evoke the past. There any similarities end. These CDs are an eclectic mix: there's classical, techno-jazz and folk music, as well as a couple of comedy routines. There may be something for every taste, or nothing for anyone, as they are very unique recordings and there's not much to be lukewarm about – you'll either like them or hate them.

Warsaw Ghetto poem

The most recent release from the Milken Archive of American Jewish Music is Di Naye Hagode (The New Haggadah), which features three major works by composer Max Helfman.

The first composition is "Di Naye Hagode," a dramatic piece about the Warsaw Ghetto uprising written for narrator, chorus and orchestra, and based on an epic poem by Soviet Jewish writer Itzik Fefer, who was murdered in Stalin's postwar terror. The second work is "Hag Habikkurim" ("Festival of the First Fruits"), a delightful collection of original arrangements by Helfman of Hebrew Zionist songs that were sung in Palestine prior to independence. And the final piece on the CD, "The Holy Ark," is comprised of five selections from Helfman's choral setting of the Torah service.

"Di Naye Hagode" is the centrepiece of this recording. Named after a recurring phrase in Fefer's poem, it refers to the Passover Haggadah from which most of us will read next week, recalling the Israelites' exodus from Egypt, their liberation from slavery and the beginning of the Jewish journey to national and religious identity.

"This reference gave the piece a heightened historical and moral significance," writes Milken artistic director Neil Levin in a press release, "not only because the [Warsaw Ghetto] uprising and the Germans' final liquidation of the ghetto occurred during Passover in 1943, but also because liberation, national survival and, especially, the impetus for remembrance and undiluted recollection acquired a new and even more immediate meaning for the Jewish people in the post-Holocaust world."

"Di Naye Hagode" is narrated by well-known actor and folksinger Theodore Bikel and performed by the Los Angeles Zimriyah Chorale, the Choral Society of Southern California and the Young Musicians Foundation Debut Orchestra. Nick Strimple, a visiting professor at the University of California at Los Angeles and the University of Southern California, conducts. The work's power and richness is evident, but it is not an easy listen.

The sound quality is poor – Bikel's portions are very soft, while the choral and orchestral parts are jarring at the volume needed to hear Bikel. As well, there is much contrast in the music, from bombastic drums and cymbals to the lightness of children's voices. Helfman has managed to capture the beauty and ugliness of life in his choral writing and orchestration, which would probably make for an excellent live performance, but which doesn't transmit as well on CD.

"Hag Habikkurim," however, comprises songs that one can sing along with and enjoy light-heartedly. The Coro Hebraeico, conducted by Levin, does an excellent job of transmitting the songs' optimistic spirit of renewal – national, economic, agricultural and cultural – in the Holy Land. Notably, "El Hakfar" praises the land, "Uri Ahim" and "Salleinu Al K'Tefeinu" are about the first fruits of the season, "Hazzor'im B'dim'a" is a prayer for rain and "Shir Lanamal" celebrates the building of a port.

Di Naye Hagode concludes with "The Holy Ark," performed by Great Neck, N.Y.'s Temple Israel Cantor Raphael Frieder, the Slovak Chamber Choir and the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra. It is conducted by composer and Julliard School faculty member Samuel Adler. While the singing of the choir is excellent and that of the cantor is fine (very traditional, very nasal), they don't blend together well and each song almost sounds like two different ones. The music itself, however, is beautiful.

Di Naye Hagode includes a 35-page booklet that gives the history of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising; the biographies of Helfman, Fefer and the musicians performing on the recording; the background of the works themselves, as well as their translated texts; and photographs.

The Milken Archive of American Jewish Music was created in 1990. It covers the range of Jewish musical expression in the United States and, over a three-year period, the archive is releasing 50 CDs, comprising more than 600 works, all newly recorded for this project. For more information on the collection, visit www.milkenarchive.org or the CD distributor Naxos's website, www.naxos.com.

Passover goes jazzy

The Passover Lounge by Craig Taubman, with Luke Tozour, is a bizarre version of some of the traditional songs sung at the Passover seder. Its mix of spoken word, singing, instrumental jazz and techno-pop elements combine to make a surprisingly enjoyable CD. It would be ideal music to which to set a Pesach laser light show at the planetarium.

Taubman's other releases include Friday Night Live, composed for a Shabbat service that is held monthly at Sinai Temple in Los Angeles, and The Hanukkah Lounge. He also produced the Celebrate Series, a compilation project that collects some of the best Jewish music available on theme-oriented recordings.

He has an obvious affinity for and knowledge of Jewish spiritual music because the songs retain their impact in his innovative arrangements. Some of those on Passover Lounge even receive a new life of sorts – his interpretations of "Avadim Hayenu" and "Dayenu," for example, are refreshingly different, yet based on the traditional versions.

To sample any of Taubman's music, visit the Craig 'n' Co. website at www.craignco.com.

Connie Francis sings

It starts with a rousing version of "Tzena, Tzena" and includes many well-known Jewish songs, such as "My Yiddishe Mama," "Hava Nagila" and "Oh Mein Papa." That a CD features such music is not a surprise. What is unique is that it is performed by Connie Francis.

Dedicated to disseminating a variety of music and entertainment based in Jewish tradition and Judaism, Jewish Music Group Traditions has recently released Connie Francis Sings Jewish Favorites, which originally came out 45 years ago. Francis is not Jewish, yet she supposedly recorded this album at her father's suggestion.

"He sent Connie to speak to the rabbi from across the street to find out which songs were the most popular Jewish favorites," says the press release for the CD.

Francis's voice is well-suited to the genre: she can be both powerful and tender, as well as passionate, in her singing. The big band accompaniment gives the music an added sense of nostalgia.

The only drawback of this CD is that there are too many slow songs – a few more upbeat selections like "Shein Vi De Levone" would have been nice. Nonetheless, for any Francis fan or lover of popular Jewish music from ages ago, this is a CD worth owning.

For more information or to order, visit the Jewish Music Group's website at www.jewishmusicgroup.com.

Old-time comedians

Jewish Music Group Traditions has also recently re-issued two vintage comedy CDs: Don Rickles Speaks! and Jackie Mason's The World According to Me. The former was first released 35 years, while the latter is only 20 years old, which is perhaps why it can still elicit laughter.

Don Rickles' style is to verbally attack people and ethnic groups. While some may find this humor amusing, it certainly dates itself quickly and unless you're up for some jabs at Frank Sinatra, Richard Nixon or other famous folk from that era, this CD is not for you. There were only a couple of lines from this almost 37 – minute routine that made this 36-year-old reviewer chuckle – and even then, only half-heartedly.

Mason, however, is more general in his comedy and is often self-deprecating, though no less culturally insensitive. Playing on stereotypes – mainly of Jews, Italians and "white Protestant American gentiles" – there are several laugh-out-loud parts for those who don't mind politically incorrect material. When he makes fun of Ronald Reagan and how Reagan just laughed away problems and never seemed to know what was going on when he was president of the United States, one can't help but think that this routine could easily be updated for George W. Bush.

For more information about either of these CDs, visit www.jewishmusicgroup.com.

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